CLSS: Maternal life skills

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

Confidence in adult relations

No description provided by author

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

MSSI: Maternal social support

The MSSI assesses caregiver social support with regard to the division of household tasks and responsibilities for child rearing, access to transportation, interaction with other adults, and community involvement.

1 Adjusted odds ratios are based on the average effect across all follow-up years.

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Outcome

Description of Measure

Data Collection Method

Properties of the Outcome Measure

CES-D: Depressive symptoms

The CES-D is a 20-item assessment of depressive symptoms. A binary variable was formed from the total score where parents with scores greater than or equal to 24 were said to have probable cases of depression.

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

Illicit drug use

Percentage of parents who engaged in illicit drug use, defined as a report of any illegal drug use in the past year

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

MHI: Poor general mental health

The MHI assesses levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. The researchers created a binary variable where those with MHI scores less than 67 were considered to have poor mental health.

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

Problem alcohol use (CAGE)

Percentage of parents with problem alcohol use, defined as a report of alcohol use in the year prior to pregnancy and a CAGE score greater than or equal to 2

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

PSI: Severe parenting stress

The PSI assesses stress in the parent-child relationship arising from child temperament, parental depression, and negatively reinforcing parent-child interactions. A mother was considered positive for severe parenting stress if she scored positive for personal adjustment problems, child abuse potential, or high child abuse potential as defined by Abidin.

Not statistically significant, p = 0.54

Not available

Secondary

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Outcome

Description of Measure

Data Collection Method

Properties of the Outcome Measure

Alcohol use

Alcohol use was measured by a series of questions that included: Do you drink beer or alcohol? To which the mother could answer yes or no. If the mother answered yes, then another question was asked: In the past two weeks how many times did you drink beer or alcohol?

Additional Sources:

Anisfeld, E., Sandy, J., & Guterman, N. B. (2004). Best Beginnings: A randomized controlled trial of a paraprofessional home visiting program: Executive summary. Report to the Smith Richardson Foundation and New York State Office of Children and Family Services. New York: Columbia University School of Social Work.

Anisfeld, E., Sandy, J., & Guterman, N. B. (2004). Best Beginnings: A randomized controlled trial of a paraprofessional home visiting program: Narrative summary. Report to the Smith Richardson Foundation and New York State Office of Children and Family Services. New York: Columbia University School of Social Work

Statistical significance not reported

HomVEE = -0.12

Secondary

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Outcome

Description of Measure

Data Collection Method

Properties of the Outcome Measure

MSSI: Perceived Social Support

The MSSI assesses caregiver social support with regard to the division of household tasks and responsibilities for child rearing, access to transportation, interaction with other adults, and community involvement. The researchers analyzed the 3-item Perceived Social Support subscale, with possible scores ranging from 0 to 13.

Not statistically significant,p > 0.05

Not available

Secondary

Show Study Outcome Measure Summary

Outcome

Description of Measure

Data Collection Method

Properties of the Outcome Measure

AUDIT: Alcohol abuse

The AUDIT assesses the degree to which a person’s alcohol use is harmful. Respondents reported the frequency with which they experienced eight, different symptoms of alcohol abuse, with possible scores ranging from 0 to 32. A score of 8 or more indicated a strong likelihood of alcohol abuse. The researchers examined the total score and a binary variable representing whether a respondent was above or below the cutoff of 8.

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

CES-D: Depressive symptoms

CES-D: Above depression threshold

The CES-D is a 20-item assessment of depressive symptoms. The researchers examined the total score (range 0–60) and a binary measure indicating whether the total depression score was at or above a cutoff of 16, which defined cases of probable depression.

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

DAST: Drug use

The DAST assesses the degree to which a person’s use of illegal or legal drugs is harmful. The researchers used the instrument to examine the percentage of parents who reported using illegal drugs.

Parent/caregiver report

Not reported by author

Secondary

The PSM assesses the extent to which respondents believe that their life chances are under their own control. The assessment measures the degree of agreement with eight statements related to the respondents’ capacity to affect events and circumstances in their lives.

Secondary outcome measure: For the HomVEE review, most self-reported
data, excluding self-reports based on a standardized (normed) instrument.

Mean Difference
and Odds Ratio

For a uniform approach, HomVEE calculates mean differences as the
program group mean minus the comparison group mean. In some studies, authors did
this calculation in the opposite direction.

The odds ratio is the odds of an event occurring in one group divided
by the odds of an event occurring in another group. If the odds of an event occurring
in group A equals 3 and the odds of an event occurring in group B equals 2, the
odds ratio equals 1.5. In other words, there is a 1.5 times greater likelihood the
event will occur in group A than in group B.

Effect Sizes

HomVEE reports author-calculated effect sizes when available, as labeled in the
table. If the author did not report effect sizes, but sufficient information was
available, HomVEE calculated effect sizes.

Statistical Significance

Statistical significance is an indication of the probability that the observed finding
was obtained by chance (when there is not a real relationship in the population).
If the p-value is equal to or less than a predetermined cutoff (in the
HomVEE review, 0.05), then the finding is considered statistically significant or
probably not obtained by chance.